


Time After Time

by Falahime



Series: I Can't Think Up A Clever Name for Haikyu Fics Right Now [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Asahi's hair, Fluff, Healthy dose of pining, I had surgery and wrote this slightly medicated, M/M, Post-Canon, alternating pov, background daisuga, sorry I forgot how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25936294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falahime/pseuds/Falahime
Summary: It didn’t matter if Asahi thought Nishinoya was cute, and not just because he was almost a foot shorter. It didn’t matter if Asahi wanted to run his fingers through that spiked hair or wanted to taste Noya’s mouth when it was still cool from two-biting a popsicle. None of that mattered because Nishinoya very obviously was not that way.Nishinoya was wild, impetuous, and one of the coolest, manliest people Asahi knew. And he was really excited (yeah, and nervous) about traveling around the world with him.As a friend.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu
Series: I Can't Think Up A Clever Name for Haikyu Fics Right Now [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000623
Comments: 69
Kudos: 296
Collections: Asanoya Week 2020





	1. Day 1 Prompt: Affection/Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> This is my attempt at AsaNoya Week 2020. The prompts totally kicked my ass--I wanted to work all seven days into a coherent chronological story and that was probably my downfall.

Asahi knew that what he was doing was very un-Asahi. Daichi and Suga had just stood there in complete shock for a moment until finally Daichi had asked hesitantly, “You’re kidding?”

“Asahi doesn’t kid,” Suga said warily.

“I do kid,” Asahi had protested weakly and Suga snickered. “But I’m not kidding about this. We got to talking about it and somehow he kinda talked me into it—”

“Ah. Never taking responsibility,” Daichi teased.

“Well, he did kinda talk me into it...”

“Of course he did.” Suga nodded.

“But it was my decision and I want to go!” He shrugged, the emphasis dissipating. “So, I’m going.”

“Even with the Olympics? The Olympics that our guys are playing in?” Daichi pressed.

“Noya is way more important than the Olympics,” Asahi said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then he immediately realized how it sounded and heat flooded his face. “N-no, I mean—” he stammered.

“You meant exactly what you said.” Suga shared a smirk with Daichi before smacking Asahi in the shoulder. “Go get 'em.”

“That’s not—!” Asahi covered his face with his hands.

“Hey!” Daichi barked, startling him out of his fluster. He grinned broadly. “Have fun.”

“I will,” Asahi mumbled through his fingers. “I mean, I think I will? Probably? Maybe. I’ll try?”

“Noya really has his work cut out for him.” Suga sighed and shook his head. “You _will_ have fun. Not probably-maybe-whatever. You _will_.”

Asahi nodded at his friends beaming at him. “T-thanks.”

“And tell Nishinoya we said hello.” Suga leered.

So now this was it. Here he was, on a plane, and had been for what seemed to be forever. But finally— _finally_!—he was so close to his meet up with Nishinoya. He was nervous and excited and—well, mostly nervous, really. It had been half and half for most of the trip but now that it was imminent, the nervous was starting to overwhelm all other emotions. He hadn’t seen Nishinoya in person in what seemed to be ages. What if Nishinoya didn’t like him anymore? Yeah, okay, that seemed mostly improbable considering they’d stayed in touch mostly through text and the occasional phone call and it had been Nishinoya who suggested Asahi rendezvous with him— _rendezvous_? Was that the right word? It sounded a little...um...like, a little sexy? Not that Asahi would mind, but that’s not—

“Asahi-saaaaan!” The familiar voice rang out as Asahi disembarked.

“Noya!” Asahi grinned as Nishinoya practically bounded up to him. He was a bit more...solid than Asahi remembered, years of fishing and doing whatever else physical labor adding muscle. But if he had gained any height, it was imperceptible. “You’re so tan!”

“And you’re lookin’ kinda pasty!” Noya laughed, bumping him in the side. “All that inside work, you’re gonna turn into a ghost.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Asahi mused as they retrieved his checked luggage and made their way to the exit. “Do...do I really look bad?”

Nishinoya’s intense eyes roamed over him for a minute before he broke out into a grin. “Nah, I’m just giving you crap.” His grin receded into a gentler smile but his eyes still sparkled. “You look great.”

“Oh.” Asahi almost tripped on his own feet. “Oh. Thanks.”   
  
They walked along, heading to the place Nishinoya had found for them, chatting idly about the flight and the layover and a little about how Nishinoya found this rental. 

“Ah,” Asahi chuckled to himself as he followed Nishinoya up the stairs. “I really missed you.”

Nishinoya paused on the stair above him and turned. It wasn’t enough to make him taller, but it definitely brought them closer to level. “I missed you too,” was all he said before leaning forward and kissing him.

Asahi leaned closer instinctively, hands discarding his luggage and reaching for Nishinoya’s waist. His fingers brushed the skin exposed when Nishinoya lifted his arms to tangle his small fingers in Asahi’s messy bun. Nishinoya gasped slightly at the contact so Asahi splayed his fingers up underneath Nishinoya’s shirt, marveling at how someone so wiry and muscular could have lips so soft and sweet and absolutely perfect. He pulled him closer, tongues meeting, Noya’s teeth nipping at Asahi’s bottom lip and he wasn’t sure why this was happening but he'd been thinking about this _forever_ and it was amazing—more amazing than he'd ever hoped—and he just wanted _more_ of it—

“Excuse me, sir. We’re preparing for landing. Tray table up, please.”

The flight attendant’s warning to the man next to him jolted Asahi from his sleep. He quickly scrubbed at his flushed face, trying to wipe away any drool and hoping to any god he could think of that he hadn’t moaned in his sleep. He blinked rapidly hoping to clear the sleep from his eyes and reset his brain. Shuffling uncomfortably in his too-small seat he took deep breaths as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat and inappropriately piqued libido. The guy next to him gave him a pretty heavy side-eye.

Asahi would usually panic at someone’s obvious evaluation of him but in this case he was relieved thinking the guy mistook his reaction for a fear of flying or airsickness at the descent. That was way preferable over the truth, that he was suddenly fidgety and nervous and flustered because of a dream that was the culmination of years of fantasy about his friend and (now former) teammate. 

His short, bouncy, adorable, energetic, beautiful, sparkling, talented, manly, radiant smile, why-is-that-blond-bit-in-the-spiked-hair-so-cool, giant-amber-eyes-are-going-to-be-the-death-of-me...friend.

Asahi knew Nishinoya had chosen Karasuno because he was a fan of the girls’ uniforms. He had spent goodness knows how much time ogling Kiyoko. One of his proudest high school moments was getting slapped by her.

It didn’t matter if Asahi thought Nishinoya was cute, and not just because he was almost a foot shorter. It didn’t matter if Asahi wanted to run his fingers through that spiked hair or wanted to taste Noya’s mouth when it was still cool from two-biting a popsicle. _None_ of that mattered because Nishinoya very obviously was not _that way_.

Nishinoya was wild, impetuous, and one of the coolest, manliest people Asahi knew. And he was really excited (yeah, and nervous) about traveling around the world with him.

As a friend.


	2. Day 2 Prompt: Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time it happened, Nishinoya thought he might have a heart attack. It had been too many years of not sharing a locker room with the guy and Nishinoya was woefully unprepared for fresh-from-the-shower, shirtless, damp-hair-around-his-shoulders Asahi.
> 
> Hell, even now that it had been weeks of traveling together and the sight was almost...routine? normal? expected? highly-anticipated? Nishinoya still had that moment of panic that he might puke up his heart into a gooey puddle of infatuation on the floor at Asahi’s feet. Every. Time.
> 
> “Oh, shoot,” Asahi mumbled.
> 
> “What?” Nishinoya asked, making eye contact through Asahi’s reflection in the mirror through the open bathroom door.
> 
> “My hair tie broke.”

The first time it happened, Nishinoya thought he might have a heart attack. It had been too many years of not sharing a locker room with the guy and Nishinoya was woefully unprepared for fresh-from-the-shower, shirtless, damp-hair-around-his-shoulders Asahi.

Hell, even now that it had been weeks of traveling together and the sight was almost...routine? normal? expected? _highly anticipated_? Nishinoya still had that moment of panic that he might puke up his heart into a gooey puddle of infatuation on the floor at Asahi’s feet. Every. Time.

“Oh, shoot,” Asahi mumbled.

“What?” Nishinoya asked, making eye contact through Asahi’s reflection in the mirror through the open bathroom door.

“My hair tie broke.” Asahi held up the snapped hair tie for visual confirmation. “And I don’t have a spare.” He regarded himself critically in the bathroom mirror. “I...I guess I could just go out like this.”

Nishinoya’s thought of _oh god yes_ was immediately replaced by _oh god no_. “No!” he blurted.

Asahi’s eyes widened in shock before he gave a hurt little laugh. “That bad, huh?”

“No, I mean, uh...” Nishinoya scrambled for an explanation as he watched Asahi’s broad shoulders sag in embarrassment. “I mean, um, no, you look...fuck! If you go out like that you look like the cover of a fucking romance novel and we’ll be surrounded by girls all day and they’ll never leave us alone.”

Chocolate eyes blinked back at him uncertainly. “So I..? What?” Asahi shook his head. “Um, I’d think you’d like that—” Nishinoya’s stomach fell. _Had Asahi figured him out? Caught him ogling? Maybe that time he literally wiped away drool? But wait, if Asahi knew that it was something Nishinoya liked and was willing to do it, didn’t that mean..?_ “—I mean, don’t you want to be surrounded by girls?”

 _Fuck_. Nishinoya flopped back onto the mattress, resisting the urge to scream. “No,” he said, not really thinking anything about it, just trying to not sound too pouty.

“Oh?” Asahi said, his tone a bit shaky. “I thought you were, uh, fond of girls.”

“Not as fond as I am of you.”

There was a moment of silence as two pairs of eyes widened. _Fuck fuck fuck. I didn’t really mean to say that. It just flew out of my mouth. Now he’s either going to ignore it or turn bright red—which is too cute, really, but the ignoring would kill me and—_ “Oh, hey.”

“Hmm?” Asahi hummed, sounding a bit strangled and definitely not making eye contact.

Nishinoya hopped up from his bed. “Where’d you put that other bag of mine? I was just thinking, I might—”

“The shelf in the closet,” Asahi answered, a little confused but obviously thankful for the change in topic. Although Nishinoya had to admit that stung, just a little.

He opened the closet, looking for his bag. _Of course that giant would put it on the top shelf_. Nishinoya reached up, tip of his tongue peeking out of his mouth slightly in concentration, stretching on his tip toes...until Asahi’s chest (well, mostly his stomach, due to the height difference), skin still warm from the shower, pressed gently against his back and he did his best to bite back a yelp of surprise.

“Sorry.” Asahi stepped back, handing him the retrieved bag. “Uh, here.”

Nishinoya glared, hoping his acquired tan would hide the flush on his cheeks. “Thanks. Thanks for reminding me how stupidly tall you are.”

“Stupidly?!” Asahi squawked.

“Stupidly.” Nishinoya nodded firmly before swinging the bag—it had traveled the world with him and had seen better days, he should probably be a bit gentler with it—on his bed and digging through it. After just a moment, he found what he was looking for. “A-ha!” he exclaimed triumphantly, holding aloft his trophy: a hair tie.

“Ooh!” Asahi clapped. “Good job.” Eyes darted as he chewed his lip nervously. “Um, did it...did it belong to someone?”

“Huh?” Nishinoya was surprised by the question. “What? No. I, uh, thought about growing my hair out for a while.” _I've always had one stashed for you since fucking high school. In case you needed one. Like you do. Right now._

“Oh,” Asahi said, sounding oddly relieved. “Grow your hair out, huh...” His brow furrowed as he tried to imagine Nishinoya with long hair.

“What?” Nishinoya laughed. “You don’t think it’d look good?”

“I think you’d look good no matter,” Asahi said easily, then he stuttered as he realized what he’d said. “B-but, um, I like the way you do it. Up. I think it’s very, uh, you.”

“Thanks.” Nishinoya grinned, spinning the hair tie around his finger.

“So, um...” Asahi held out his hand, palm up.

“Oh, you want this?” Nishinoya asked with feigned innocence. Then a wicked grin spread across his face. “You only get this if you let me put up your hair.”

A very intense shade of red overtook Asahi’s face. “R-really?” he squeaked.

Nishinoya nodded slowly. “Yep.”

“You...you actually want to?”

Nishinoya strongly resisted the urge to kick him in the shins or punch him in the stomach for the oblivious, incredulous sound in his voice. “Sit,” he said instead.

“On the floor?”

“Well, I can’t damn well reach your head if we’re both standing,” Nishinoya pointed out. Asahi blushed even more profusely, sinking obediently to the floor next to the bed. Nishinoya grabbed the brush out of the bathroom before returning to hop on the bed and scoot to the edge. He held the hair tie in his teeth and, almost vibrating with anticipation, he ran his fingers through Asahi’s hair.

It was all he could do to exercise some self-restraint and actually mostly focus on the task at hand. He knew that it had never taken Asahi this long to brush his hair out or pull it up, but he also noticed that Asahi had gone oddly quiet and hadn’t mentioned that it shouldn’t take this impossibly long to make a bun.

So despite how he wanted to spend the rest of the day combing his fingers through those damp strands, he finalized the bun and removed his legs from where they’d settled across Asahi’s shoulders.

“There you go!” Nishinoya said with false enthusiasm as Asahi looked at himself in the mirror. “Pretty good, huh?”

“Great!” Asahi grinned. “Maybe I should ask you to do it every day.” There was a flicker of eye contact via the mirror before Asahi looked away nervously.

“Only if you do mine,” Nishinoya teased, bumping him with a shoulder.

“Really?!”

“Uh...” Asahi’s enthused reaction had caught him off guard. Nishinoya looked up at him, a mixture of skepticism and hope swirling in his chest. “You...uh, want to?”

“It looks so fun!” Asahi blurted. “I watch you do it every morning and I’ve always wanted to try it...” His enthusiasm turned to embarrassment under Nishinoya’s gaze and he covered his burning face with his hands. “But I didn’t want to ask and I didn’t think you’d let me,” he whined behind his fingers.

Nishinoya burst out laughing which just elicited another mortified groan from Asahi, who sunk to the floor in a crouch, face still covered. He wrapped his much smaller hands around Asahi’s and pried them away from his face, relishing being the one looking down for a change.

“It’s a deal,” he said with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompts are disintegrating at a rapid rate. "Jealousy" originated with Noya not wanting to share his oblivious eye candy with hordes of girls and also a bit of "jealousy" at Asahi's height. Instead it turned into this...


	3. Day 3 Prompt: Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, how is work?”
> 
> “Good,” Asahi replied. “Pretty convenient, that I can do it from pretty much anywhere. And the traveling is actually kinda good...keeps me inspired, I’m getting to see fashion all over the world. It’s kinda perfect.”
> 
> “Awesome.” Nishinoya smiled. 
> 
> “But I would’ve come anyway,” Asahi hurried. “E-even if...even if I had to quit— I was glad you asked—” He took a deep breath. “So. Um. Yeah.”
> 
> “Well, it’s better that you didn’t have to quit and this works well with your job, yeah? Now we can just do this forever.” He grinned at Asahi’s wide eyes and immediate flush. “What made you choose fashion, anyway?”
> 
> “Oh. Um.” Asahi scratched a cheek in embarrassment. “Y-you. Actually.”

“Aaaand done!” Asahi closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair with a stretch. 

Nishinoya set a couple plates loaded with dinner on the little outdoor table that lived on the small deck. “Work?”

“Mmm.” Asahi nodded, mouth already full with Nishinoya’s cooking. His eyes lit up. “Whoa! This is really good!”

“Don’t sound so surprised!”

Asahi laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way! It’s just...I mean—”

“I know, I’m just fuckin’ with you.” Nishinoya took a bite but continued talking. “I know my cooking kinda sucked.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Asahi protested quickly. “But this is great!”

A light blush dusted Nishinoya’s face. “T-thanks.” He glanced at the closed laptop on the otherwise unoccupied third chair. “So, how is work?”

“Good,” Asahi replied. “Pretty convenient, that I can do it from pretty much anywhere. And the traveling is actually kinda good...keeps me inspired, I’m getting to see fashion all over the world. It’s kinda perfect.”

“Awesome.” Nishinoya smiled. 

“But I would’ve come anyway,” Asahi hurried. “E-even if...even if I had to quit— I was glad you asked—” He took a deep breath. “So. Um. Yeah.”

“Well, it’s better that you didn’t have to quit and this works well with your job, yeah? Now we can just do this forever.” He grinned at Asahi’s wide eyes and immediate flush. “What made you choose fashion, anyway?”

“Oh. Um.” Asahi scratched a cheek in embarrassment. “Y-you. Actually.”

“H-huh?!”

Asahi made eye contact for a very brief second before darting away. “I mean, I’d had an interest for a while. I guess. B-but when I was trying to figure out what to do after graduation, I thought back to, well, the people and events that made high school memorable. A-and you, uh, obviously, were—are—one of those people. So that got me to thinking how if both of us hadn’t attended Karasuno, I would’ve, um, never met you. Uh, probably, anyway. But you chose Karasuno because of the _uniforms_.” Asahi snorted, looking across the table at a speechless Nishinoya. “A-and I just thought, that in a weird way, I owed our f-f-friendship to, uh, clothes. And it made me want to create that for others.”

Nishinoya’s eyes shone large and bright. “Wow!” His sudden exclamation echoed through the otherwise peaceful evening, startling Asahi with its volume. “Asahi-san!” He bounded up, hands slapping the table for emphasis. “That is SO COOL!”

“Y-you think so?” Asahi asked nervously, tucking an escaped strand of hair behind his ear.

Nishinoya nodded so rapidly his hair bounced. “Absolutely! That’s freakin’— Like, seriously! How are you so—? Gah!” He broke into a wide grin. “Seriously. Cool.”

“I’m, uh, glad you think so...” Asahi blushed, simultaneously embarrassed and delighted by the praise. Noya was the coolest guy he knew, so if he was saying Asahi was cool—well. A quivering smile threatened Asahi’s lips.

“Aw, man, if only I wasn’t so shor— was taller,” Nishinoya lamented.

Asahi frowned, brows furrowed. “Why?”

“I could model your clothes!” Noya said as if it was the most obvious thing. “Don’t you think I’d be a good model?” He immediately flashed apathetic lidded eyes and sucked in his cheeks.

Asahi laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. “Not like that,” he remarked and Noya laughed. “But, if you...I mean, I do...” Nishinoya’s questioning eyes spurred him on. “If...I kinda might’ve designed some stuff like, um, with...with you in mind. For you.”

“Really?!” Noya’s excited expression lit up the night.

“Y-yeah? Not that your idiom shirts aren’t cool—” Nishinoya snorted a laugh at that. “But, um. Your body is just so...” Asahi waved his hands, gesturing generically. “...and your whole aesthetic, like, you have this perfect cool-cute thing going on—”

“Cute?” Noya squeaked.

“I-is that bad?” Asahi panicked. “I’m not saying you’re not really cool and manly it’s just there’s also something when a person looks at you that’s just like, _wow_.” Nishinoya made a funny groan that Asahi didn’t know the meaning of. “So it’s easy, um, to design for you.”

Nishinoya practically vibrated from happiness. “You’ll have to tell me if I can wear one of your designs someday!” His eyes darted to the laptop again. “Or can you show me— Is that asking too much—?”

“W-well, um, actually...” Asahi’s stomach clenched with nerves. “I kinda have one he—”

“YOU HAVE SOMETHING?” Noya just about vaulted over the table and Asahi “uwahh!”ed in surprise. “Are you serious?”

“I-I didn’t know if you’d want—”

“You made me something? _You made me something?_ Of course I want it!” He was bouncing now, unable to contain himself. 

“O-okay,” Asahi said, standing up from the table. “I-I guess...stay here? I’ll, uh, go get it.” Before going through the deck door into the house looked back at Noya’s beaming face over his shoulder. “Y-you’re sure?”

“Asahiiiii-” Nishinoya’s tone was a mixture of threat and whine.

“Okay okay!” Asahi laughed nervously, ducking inside. He dug to the bottom of his largest bag and pulled out the item he’d stashed on a whim when he packed. Off and on he’d remembered it was there and though about pulling it out, hoping Noya would be pleasantly surprised with it, but it seemed like every time he thought about it they were in a tropical environment and didn’t want to look like an ass giving him a—

“Holy shit, is that a leather jacket?!” Nishinoya’s voice piped from behind Asahi’s right elbow.

“Noya!” He startled, clutching the jacket to his chest in surprise. “I thought you were going to wait outside!” Following Noya’s wide-eyed gaze to the jacket in his hands, he extended it to him, arms shaking.

Nishinoya took it reverently, fully unfolding it and holding it out to look at it for a moment, eyes sparkling with awe. “Can I put it on?”

“Huh?” Asahi had momentarily lost himself in Noya’s reaction. “Um, of course. It’s, uh, yours. I-I made it for you.”

“Like, made-it made it? Like, with your hands?” Nishinoya asked excitedly.

“Uh, yeah..? And a sewing machine. Does, uh, that still count? Like, I didn’t sit and stitch every stitch by hand...But it’s one of a kind.” Asahi shrugged uncomfortably. “I made it for you,” he repeated weakly.

“You made it for me,” Nishinoya whispered happily. Without further ado, he put it on and flashed Asahi his megawatt grin. “How do I look?”

For a moment Asahi just short-circuited and stood there gaping like a fish, eyes wide. He’d had some idea of how the finished product should turn out, how it would play on Noya’s frame and work with his whole aura but this, seeing _this_ in the flesh was beyond what he ever could have expected. The only thing better than Asahi having his hands all over Noya was having something he lovingly handmade all over him and just thinking that did strange things to his—  
  
“Fuck,” he finally exhaled breathily. “You look...” Nishinoya looked up at him expectantly and he couldn’t repress a goofy smile. “Fuck. Yeah.”

Nishinoya burst out laughing, giving him a very quick, very unexpected hug before running to the full length mirror in the bedroom. “Holy shit!” There was a brief pause before Nishinoya yelled, still in the bedroom, “Asahi-san, come look at me!”

“I-” Asahi’s voice cracked. “I saw you.” But he followed him into the bedroom anyway, standing behind Nishinoya as he admired himself in the mirror. Asahi gave into impulse and ran his hands lightly over the leather covering those small shoulders. “How’s the fit?” he asked unnecessarily. The “fit” was quite obviously, uh, mouth-watering.

Noya turned around and extended his arms out to his sides, his body forming a T. “Amazing!” He punched Asahi in the side, eliciting an “oomph.” “Why the heck were you holding out on me? You were just gonna pack this around in your bag forever? What the hell!”

“No, I, uh...well, we hadn’t been anywhere that you could actually use it—”

“I don’t care if I have to wear it around the house naked!” Noya blurted. “I’d find a reason to wear it!”

“Ohmygod,” Asahi groaned, overwhelmed by the instant mental image. Just the thought of Nishinoya wearing nothing but that supple black leather, snug in all the right spots, tailored to fit him so perfectly, the hem skimming the tops of those wiry-muscled thighs, barely covering—

“Oh shit, dude, careful!” Nishinoya’s hand reached up towards Asahi’s face. “You gotta nosebleed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I warned you the prompts were barely hanging on by a thread. But hey, "graduation" is mentioned like, once? Does that count?


	4. Day 4 Prompt: Domestic/Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Asahi-saaaaan!” was the very brief warning before Nishinoya bodyslammed a sleeping Asahi on the mattress.
> 
> “Oof!” Asahi curled into a fetal position as Nishinoya cackled. “Noyaaaa,” he groaned, squinted at him through sleepy eyes.
> 
> Nishinoya grabbed Asahi’s wrist and started pulling. “C’mon, Asahi-san! Hurry!”
> 
> “But it’s so early,” Asahi whined in protest.
> 
> “Because it has to be,” Nishinoya insisted, pulling harder. “C’mon, you big baby giant!”

“Asahi-saaaaan!” was the very brief warning before Nishinoya bodyslammed a sleeping Asahi on the mattress.

“Oof!” Asahi curled into a fetal position as Nishinoya cackled. “Noyaaaa,” he groaned and squinted at him through sleepy eyes.

Nishinoya grabbed Asahi’s wrist and started pulling. “C’mon, Asahi-san! Hurry!”

“But it’s so _early_ ,” Asahi whined in protest.

“Because it has to be,” Nishinoya insisted, pulling harder. “C’mon, you big baby giant!”

Asahi huffed a laugh at the oxymoron and rolled out of bed. Nishinoya didn’t drop his wrist even after he stood, holding on as he led Asahi out to the deck. 

“Coffee?” Asahi asked, confused, looking at the steaming mugs on the small table.

“Mm,” Nishinoya nodded. “I got it ready because I knew it’d take too long to drag you out here.” 

Asahi yawned as he slumped in one of the chairs. “Why did you drag me out here, anyway?” 

“Because!” Nishinoya handed Asahi a mug and sipped from his own. He opted to drag his chair to sit right next to Asahi instead of sitting with the table between them. He oh-so-briefly considered sitting in Asahi’s lap only because he knew Asahi might still be sleepy enough to let him get away with it. But he was at least sitting close enough he could enjoy the feeling of the heat radiating off that much larger body and he silently prayed Asahi was still too drowsy to consider that maybe they were sitting weirdly too close. “I wanted you to see this.”

Asahi’s brow furrowed as he squinted into the sliver of sun peeking over the horizon; Nishinoya thought it was adorable. Asahi’s squinty face, not the sun. “See what?”

“This!” Nishinoya gestured to the sunrise over the ocean. At Asahi’s confused look, he lost some of his confidence but pressed on. “I wanted to enjoy the sunrise with you.”

“Oh.” Asahi blinked a couple times, looking from Nishinoya to the ocean then back. 

“Don’t look at me! Look out there!”

Asahi stared at him for another moment before looking back at the sunrise in all of its burgeoning glory, the sky painted in hues of yellow, orange, and pink. It was beautiful, he had to admit. A year ago—heck, two months ago—he never imagined he’d be sitting on a deck in Hawaii, watching a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean with Nishinoya. A quiet Nishinoya, which was rarer than Asahi being awake early enough to catch a sunrise. He desperately wanted to look over at Noya, see the expression on a face that was being so uncharacteristically silent. But Noya had made it quite apparent that he wanted Asahi to watch the sunrise, not him, and he didn’t want Noya mad at him so...

“Pretty cool, huh?” Nishinoya said, a hopeful smile in his voice.

“Yeah,” Asahi replied, surprised a bit at how much he meant it. “I can’t remember the last time I was up early enough to see one.” He smirked as he took a sip of his coffee. “Not all of us are early risers with limitless energy.”

Nishinoya’s eyes caught that smirk which was way too sexy for this early in the morning and he found himself regretting he hadn’t risked sitting in Asahi’s lap. There was no good reason that bedhead Asahi, who an unbiased person would probably daresay looked “scraggly”, looked so delectable this early in the morning. 

But, then again, Nishinoya was not an unbiased person. He was very, _very_ biased and bleary, scraggly Asahi smirking over coffee with early morning sunlight hitting the blue Hawaii water reflecting on his features looked much better than he had any right to. 

“Fucking amazing,” Nishinoya mumbled to himself.

“Mm?” Asahi glanced at him, eyebrow raised. “I didn’t realize you were such a, uh, sunrise connoisseur, Noya.”

Nishinoya was thankful that his blush would be mostly hidden by the pinkish glow of the morning. “Um. Yeah. I guess. I, uh...” _can’t help but think of you when I see one because of your stupid hot name but fuck, that’s embarrassing to say_ — “It’s stupid but they kinda remind me of you,” he finished in a rushed mumble. At Asahi’s puzzled look, he added, “Because of your name.”

“Ah.” Asahi grinned. “I knew it definitely wasn’t because of my bright, sunny disposition.” He laughed and Noya laughed with him. “That sounds more like you.”

“Huh?” Nishinoya choked on his coffee. 

“Seriously!” Asahi made a show of squinting uncomfortably. “Some mornings you’re just so bright and bouncy and, like, sparkly. I can hardly look at you.”

Noya punched Asahi in the arm and he yelped as he tried to keep from spilling his coffee. “Whatever, dude.”

Asahi chuckled to himself. “For real though. This is...nice.” He glanced at Nishinoya out of the corner of his eye. “And, um, you got a real good do on the coffee.”

“Thanks!” Nishinoya beamed. 

They sat there, soaking up the sunrise, sipping the last of their coffee until finally Asahi broke the silence. “Umm...do you miss it?”

“Miss what?” 

Asahi gestured ineffectively. “Like...being around people. You were always in the middle of things. I was just wondering...isn’t it hard for you? Not being in a group? You, uh, seemed to thrive. Not, uh, not that you don’t look like you’re thriving now!” he finished in a hurry. “Sorry.” His shoulders sagged as he deflated. “It was a stupid question.”

“Have more fucking confidence!” Nishinoya smacked him on the shoulder, eliciting a yelp. “Doesn’t matter if your question is stupid or not—”

“Hey!”

“—you can ask me anything,” Nishinoya finished with a grin. “And sure, I miss the guys sometimes, but...” He shrugged. “Everything changed anyway. Everyone has their own thing going on. We’re like, _adults_ now.” Asahi snorted at that. “High school wasn’t meant to be forever.”

Asahi was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I just...I mean, you and Tanaka were pretty close.”

“Meh,” Nishinoya said with another shrug. “He’ll always be my bro but Ryu’s got his own thing going on with Kiyoko.”

This time, the silence was charged. Tense. Nishinoya’s stomach started clenching slightly as he anticipated Asahi’s next words. 

“I wondered if that was part of the reason you left,” Asahi finally said, barely above a whisper. Not risking a glance at Nishinoya, he stared intently at the now-empty coffee mug he clutched too tightly in his hands. “If...if it was hard for you to see them like that.” He chewed his lip nervously. “I-I know you, uh, really...liked her.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a better guy!” Nishinoya chirped without hesitation.

Asahi’s drooped head flew up and he stared at Nishinoya in surprise. “Wha—really?”

“Of course!” Nishinoya grinned. “Ryu’s _my boy_ , man! I was super happy for him when he and Kiyoko started dating. Like, dude ended up with his dream girl! The only person happier than he was, was me.”

“Really?” Asahi’s voice was high-pitched with skepticism.

Nishinoya laughed outright. “Absolutely! Why,” he asked, trying to be smooth, “did you have a crush on her or something?”

“Huh?” Asahi startled. “Oh. Um. No. I mean, she was always really pretty and graceful and all that but...that was like, um, friendly admiration?” His eyes lit up. “Y’know, kind of like how I feel about you.”

Nishinoya’s stomach dropped and he knew he needed to fix his expression but... _fuck_. How did Asahi manage to build him up then cut him down every fucking time? And all by accident! He knew Asahi didn’t have a mean bone in his body. It was his fault for getting his hopes up, letting his imagination run wild when he fucking knew better. It wasn’t _Asahi_ doing this to him; he was the one to blame—

Fingertips lightly brushing his face startled him out of his thoughts and _fuck how did Asahi’s face get so close_?

“Noya?” Asahi asked tentatively, brow furrowed in concern. “You okay? You just got really super pale.”

Nishinoya wanted to swat that giant, warm hand away. It would be the right thing—the strong thing to do. Not fucking _lean into it_ like he was doing. He indulged for just a moment, closing his eyes and taking a breath to reset himself, becoming hyper aware of Asahi’s calloused thumb so gently grazing across his cheekbone. With a sigh he forced his eyes open and lied, “Yeah. I think...probably just, uh, low blood sugar. Need breakfast.”

“O-oh.” Asahi’s hand fell and Nishinoya wondered if he was hallucinating the slight reddening at the tips of his ears. “Right.” He stood and held out a hand to help Nishinoya up from his chair. “Y-you wanna go out? It’s not fair for you to cook if you’re not feeling well. But it’s also not fair to subject you to my cooking...”

Nishinoya stared at Asahi’s outstretched hand, feeling contrary for a moment and wanting to prove to himself he had the willpower to just blow it off and he wasn’t itching for that contact, however platonic and normal and brief. 

He expected Asahi to waver, to get nervous and let his hand to fall to his side. Instead, Nishinoya looked up— _way_ up, considering Asahi was standing and he was still sitting—and those dark brown eyes were so...so _concerned_ but yet so _sure_ , and he stood there like the solid fucking mountain that Nishinoya knew he could be, wearing casual confidence across those broad shoulders, that stupid fucking ocean sunrise that started this whole disaster of a morning providing a perfect backdrop and why was Nishinoya getting so emotional about this? It was a stupid _hand up_ that he _didn’t even need_ —

“C’mon,” Asahi said with a little nod and a smile. “Don’t make me carry you in.”

For a moment Nishinoya thought he would _very much like that, yes please_ but instead settled for a shake of his head and a huffed chuckle as he slapped his palm against Asahi’s, feeling those large fingers engulf his hand.

“Let’s go get you fed,” Asahi said as he effortlessly hefted Nishinoya out of his chair. His smile widened and those dark brown eyes twinkled mischievously. “After I do your hair.”   


In that moment, Nishinoya was absolutely positive Asahi would be the death of him. But hey—he couldn’t think of a better way to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only going to get fluffier and more absurd from here on, folks. But I really hope you stick around for it.


	5. Day 5 Prompt: Wedding/Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well,” Asahi began, a bit defensive. “You wouldn’t worry about getting turned down? I...” Asahi let out a deep, depressed sigh. “I don’t think I could recover. I’m getting depressed just thinking about it.”
> 
> “Then stop thinkin’ about it!” Nishinoya laughed. “And no, I wouldn’t like to get rejected but...I’d just have to do my best to be so awesome that they’d want to say yes!”
> 
> Asahi looked at him, shining eyes widening in awe. “Noyaaaaa. How are you so freakin’ manly?” Asahi covered his face with his hands. “You’re just so cool. Of course anyone would say yes to you.”
> 
> Nishinoya’s eyes glittered intensely. “Really?”

“Yes, yes, I’m still alive,” Asahi grumbled into his cell. “Noya hasn’t killed me yet. Yes, he’s—hey! Why are you so mean to me?”

Apparently Nishinoya could hear Daichi’s laugh from across the room because he laughed too. “Heyyyy, Daichi-san!”

“Noya says hi. In case you didn’t hear.” Asahi quickly pulled the phone away from his ear in time for Suga’s voice to shout, “HI!!!!”

“Suga-san! Hi!” Nishinoya yelled enthusiastically back.

“Why am I on the phone if you guys are just going to yell back and forth at each other?” Asahi whined. “Yeah, thanks for checking on me, mom and dad,” he said with an eyeroll before holding the phone away again as Daichi yelled at him. “Talk to you guys later.”

Nishinoya laughed as Asahi hung up and sat down next to him. “They never change.” He sat on the couch, eating a popsicle, which took all of about two seconds. “Maybe once they get married they’ll adopt us for real.” Asahi just about choked on his own spit. “What’s that reaction for? Them getting married or them adopting us?”

Asahi took a minute to compose himself. “No, um, I’d like for them to get married someday. Not that it’s my call to make! But, um, I’d like that for them. Y’know?”

Nishinoya broke out into a grin. “I do!” Then his brow furrowed. “I thought that’s why you agreed to come. Figured you were tired of feeling like a third wheel.”

“Um, no...” Asahi blinked in surprise. “That never occurred to me. I came because I misse—uh, wanted to hang out with you.” Nishinoya’s eyebrows shot up and Asahi continued, stammering. “But, um, no. They never made me feel like that. Maybe, um, because the three of us had been together so much before the two of them got, um...together..?”

“How long have they actually been dating?” Nishinoya asked.

Asahi huffed a laugh. “I don’t, um, actually know? Like, I don’t know how long they’d been,” his voice hushed a little, “a couple...before they kinda made it obvious.” _Made it obvious_ being code for _Asahi came for a visit and accidentally saw Daichi's back covered in very Suga-looking scratches and freaked out albeit happily_. His eyes went wide at a sudden realization. “You don’t think...since high school?”

Nishinoya laughed at Asahi’s panic. “No.” Asahi visibly sagged in relief. “Though they might’ve had crushes on each other then. But I don’t think they were actually dating yet.”

“Oh. Well. Um. That kinda makes me feel better.” Asahi scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. “I’d hate to think I was that oblivious.” Nishinoya choked and Asahi patted his back carefully. “You okay? I keep telling you it’s not healthy to eat those so fast.”

“Fine, fine,” Nishinoya waved him off and cleared his throat. “So...who does the proposing? In that situation?”

Asahi frowned, thinking. “Well, either of them could. I mean...”

“I don’t mean because they’re both guys,” Nishinoya clarified. “I just mean, between the two of them. Who do you think asks? How would it go down?”

“Hmm...I-um...I dunno _who_ asks, I guess? But I see Daichi as being pretty traditional,” Asahi mused. “Romantic dinner, maybe flowers, down on one knee, that sort of thing. Suga...Suga would be way more elaborate. Like on a Jumbotron or with some sort of flash mob or...” He grimaced and hugged his arms around his middle. “Just thinking about it is giving me an upset stomach...”

“I thought you said you’d be happy for them!”

“No, don’t get me wrong! I totally would! It’s just the thought of... _proposing_. Ugh...Just _watching_ public proposals gives me anxiety! For the proposer and the proposee! To be put on the spot like that!” Asahi shuddered. “I’d say no out of sheer panic!”

Nishinoya laughed. “You may not be as bad as in high school, but you’re still Asahi-san.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Asahi protested.

“It’s okay,” Nishinoya said with a grin, smacking Asahi on the shoulder. “It’d freak me out if you suddenly had nerves of steel.”

“Well,” Asahi began, a bit defensive. “You wouldn’t worry about getting turned down? I...” Asahi let out a deep, depressed sigh. “I don’t think I could recover. I’m getting depressed just thinking about it.”

“Then stop thinkin’ about it!” Nishinoya laughed. “And no, I wouldn’t _like_ to get rejected but...I’d just have to do my best to be so awesome that they’d want to say yes!”

Asahi looked at him, shining eyes widening in awe. “Noyaaaaa. How are you so freakin’ manly?” Asahi covered his face with his hands. “You’re just so cool. Of course anyone would say yes to you.”

Nishinoya’s eyes glittered intensely. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Asahi said, feeling slightly confused as he peeked at Nishinoya through his fingers. As far as he knew, Nishinoya wasn’t dating anyone. He certainly never mentioned anyone waiting (for years?) back in Japan and didn’t really seem interested in the girls they ran into on their travels, which was...new. Especially since a lot of these foreign girls seemed pretty, uh, _friendly_. And while Noya was pleasant enough back to them and had even mostly gotten over his uncharacteristic shyness of talking to girls he didn’t know, Asahi couldn’t really call his behavior anything more than superficially flirtatious. Okay, yeah, it was enough that he got a little jealous sometimes but...anyway. Proposing seemed like a strange thing for Nishinoya to suddenly be interested in. “Totally.”

“Thanks,” Nishinoya said with a small smile. “Sooo, since it’s obvious you will not be the proposer—” Asahi groaned and clutched his stomach again. “—how, _hypothetically_ , would you want to be proposed to?”

The color drained from his face and Asahi felt a little queasy.

“Hypothetically,” Nishinoya emphasized. “Don’t get too worked up.”

“Um...” Asahi chewed his bottom lip. “Maybe...maybe like, a letter? Something that I could read in private and think about before responding?”

Nishinoya snickered. “What, like those notes in middle school? ‘Do you like me, circle yes or no’?”

Asahi blushed in embarrassment. “Well, I’m not good at making sudden decisions! And it would be a surprise and you know I don’t handle surprises well—”

“It would be a surprise that someone who likes you would want to marry you?!” Nishinoya laughed incredulously.

“It would be a surprise that someone likes me at all!” Asahi blurted, then faltered. “So. Um. Yeah. What about...what about you?” 

“Why? You gonna propose to me, Asahi-san?” Nishinoya waggled his eyebrows and cackled when Asahi sputtered. 

“No, I meant— if you— Nevermind!” 

_I would in a heartbeat if I thought you might say yes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up a bit short (?) but then the final two chapters are about as long as the rest of this thing combined. So I guess think of this as a little teaser for tomorrow. As always, thank you for reading.


	6. Day 6 Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The problem with a much larger boyf— _friend_ , Nishinoya had decided, wasn’t that he had to take two steps for every one of Asahi’s, or that if he finally snapped and decided to just kiss his feelings onto Asahi, he couldn’t reach his mouth, even on his tiptoes. It wasn’t even the looks they got from the people around them, the whispers of “ohmygod how cute.” It wasn’t that Nishinoya existed at chest height for Asahi and he was constantly looked down at, because honestly, Nishinoya secretly liked looking up at him, feeling small next to him; it reminded him of how powerful and strong Asahi really was...even if he also really was kind of a coward.
> 
> No, the problem, Nishinoya had decided, was that if they drank the same amount of alcohol, he was drunk— _not that drunk!_ —and Asahi was still completely fine.
> 
>  _Well, he’s always fine_ , Nishinoya mentally giggled. _Sober. He’s still completely sober._

The problem with a much larger boyf— _friend_ , Nishinoya had decided, wasn’t that he had to take two steps for every one of Asahi’s, or that if he finally snapped and decided to just kiss his feelings onto Asahi, he couldn’t reach his mouth, even on his tiptoes. It wasn’t even the looks they got from the people around them, the whispers of “ohmygod how cute.” It wasn’t that Nishinoya existed at chest height for Asahi and he was constantly looked down at, because honestly, Nishinoya secretly liked looking up at him, feeling small next to him; it reminded him of how powerful and strong Asahi really was...even if he also really was kind of a coward.

No, the problem, Nishinoya had decided, was that if they drank the same amount of alcohol, he was drunk— _not that drunk!_ —and Asahi was still completely fine.

 _Well, he’s always fine_ , Nishinoya mentally giggled. _Sober. He’s still completely sober._

Nishinoya’s shoulder bumped into Asahi’s arm for the sixteenth time since leaving the restaurant as they walked along the beach back to their rental. He really wasn’t that drunk— _he was not!—_ but he used the opportunity to make as much contact as possible while he had a plausible excuse.

“Are you okay?” Asahi asked him finally. 

“I’m great!” A frown settled on Asahi’s lips and Nishinoya wondered, if he tried pulling Asahi’s face down within kissing distance, if Asahi would resist. Then again, if he _did_ resist and not bend down to meet him, Nishinoya could probably climb right up him? Theoretically, that would work, right? Though that might be...a little too awkward and forceful for a first kiss. Maybe—

“You’re pretty tipsy,” Asahi pressed.

Nishinoya rolled his eyes but bumped into him again. “I’m not _tipsy_ , I’m just, like...a little buzzed. A little.”

“Hmm,” Asahi hummed, his tone implying he did not believe Noya at all.

“Maybe _you’re_ tipsy, you keep bumping into me,” Nishinoya tried, even though he knew that wasn’t true. Unfortunately. Because if Asahi _had_ been a bit less sober, it might’ve been a good time to see if—

Asahi giggled— _since when did Asahi giggle?_ —hiding a smile behind his hand. 

“Oi. You laughin’ at me?” Noya attempted a glare.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Asahi said with a smirk dancing across his lips. “Nothing about _tipsy_ Noya is funny or _cute_ at all. Nope.”

“Who you callin’ _cute_?” Nishinoya demanded, poking Asahi in the side with a finger.

“Ow!” Asahi laughed, reaching for his side. “No one! Definitely not you! Quit poking me!”

“But I want to!”

“That’s not a good reason!” Asahi protested, grabbing for and missing Nishinoya’s hand. 

“Fine,” Nishinoya grumbled, jamming his hands in his shorts pockets and immediately wobbling into Asahi’s side again. “Y’know,” he mused as they walked along, “I’m kinda surprised you agreed to do this. Seems way out of your comfort zone.”

“What, taking a moonlit stroll along a beautiful beach with a definitely not-cute, not-tipsy Noya seems out of my comfort zone?” Asahi teased, ruffling Nishinoya’s hair.

Nishinoya _definitely_ wasn’t drunk enough for that to go unnoticed; he was thankful the evening was already dark enough to hide his blush. “You know that’s not what I mean,” he grumbled. 

Asahi’s smile was all warmth. “It is, uh, kinda out of my comfort zone. But you make me feel safe. I always know you’ve got my back. Um—is that cheesy? I mean, I know volleyball isn’t real life, but the feeling’s the same...” Nishinoya bumped into him again, not from drunkenness but intentionally because it was the closest thing he could do next to hugging him outright. “At least, I _usually_ feel safe. Dunno how much not-drunk Noya has my back...”

“Hey!” Noya thumped a fist to his own chest. “I’m _not_ drunk—” Asahi chuckled. “—and even if I was—”

“Mm hmm.”

“—even if I _was_ ,” Nishinoya repeated, grabbing Asahi’s forearm for emphasis, “I always have your back. _Always_ , Asahi-san.” 

The pure, genuine smile on Asahi’s lips caused Nishinoya’s heart to threaten to burst right out of his small chest. “I know,” he said quietly, putting an arm around Nishinoya’s slight shoulders and giving a brief squeeze. 

It may have been a very bro-friendly side-hug, but Nishinoya was counting it as a hug regardless.

“Oh, uh, Noya...”

Nishinoya was hoping that Asahi might forget about his arm around his shoulders and, oh, maybe leave it there for a while but he had no such luck. “Hmm?” 

“I, uh, I don’t know—”

“Just say it, Asahi-san.”

“Well, I don’t really know how to say this!” Asahi blurted. “But, um, I just...you don’t have to use the honorific. The waiter at that restaurant was the third person since we’ve been here to actually think my name is Asahisan. And it’s not that I care what they think!” he hurried to clarify. “But, I mean, we’ve been friends for how long and...” 

“Asahi.”

“Huh?”

“Just trying it out.” Nishinoya grinned. “Asahi. Asahiiii. Asaaahiiiii.”

The man whose name was being sing-songed down the beach blushed profusely. “It’s the same name, Noya, you don’t need to _try it out_!” 

Nishinoya answered him with a giggle. “Still fun.” He gave a heavy side-eye. “That mean you wanna call me by my first name now?”

“Huh?” Asahi looked genuinely started. “Oh. Um.” He blinked rapidly. “Wow. It— it never actually occurred to me.” He looked down at Nishinoya, who was doing his best to keep from bursting out laughing. “D-do you want me to? I mean, if— if it’s important to you, I guess—”

Finally Nishinoya gave in, his laugh echoing across the beach. “I’m just messing with you.” He did a cartwheel, just because he could.

“Noyaaaa—”

“See! Why would I want you to call me 'Yuu' when I so enjoy 'Noyaaaa?'” Nishinoya grinned as he hopped backwards in front of Asahi, who didn’t hide his panic that Noya was going to drunkenly trip over his own feet walking backward since he hadn’t been doing a particularly efficient job of walking forward. “It’s like my own special pet name just from you.”

Asahi’s squawk almost did cause Nishinoya to biff it. “Pet name?”

“Isn’t it?”

“N-no? It’s just— it’s a nickname, right? Like, there’s nothing weird about it! It’s just— And ohmygosh will you please stop doing that? You’re going to fall and break your neck and it’s really stressing me out just watching you—”

“I’m not gonna fall and break my neck, _Asahi_ ,” Nishinoya insisted even as he attempted his best purr over Asahi’s honorific-less name. “It’s sand. Even if I do fall, I won’t— oh shit—” His arms windmilled.

Asahi’s hand flashed out and grabbed Nishinoya’s wrist, pulling him roughly into his chest. “Shit,” Asahi breathed. “I just told you—”

Nishinoya grinned up at him impishly. “Gotcha.”

“Got— _what_?” Asahi sputtered, arms still snug around Nishinoya. “You’re really trying to say you meant to do that?”

In the back of his mind, Nishinoya wondered, firstly, how long Asahi was going to keep his arms around him before he realized exactly what he was doing and got embarrassed; and secondly, if he could return the favor and take the opportunity to wrap his arms around Asahi’s waist. But he figured if he tried to get handsy, it would trigger Asahi’s time-to-get-self-conscious alarm and he’d step away that much sooner. “I’m not _trying_ to say I meant to do that, I’m saying I _totally_ meant to do it.” He looked up at Asahi’s skeptical face, letting his chin rest on Asahi’s sternum. “I’m _telling you_ , I’m not drunk.”

Asahi let his hands fall at that. “I just don’t want you to get hurt—”

“It’s sand, Asahi! If you could get hurt on sand, Shoyo would’ve never made it back from Brazil! Here, I’ll show you—” 

“Please don’t!”

“Rolling Thuuunder—” Nishinoya had the great idea to finish his signature move on one knee, turning it into a rolling thunder proposal (minus the ring, obviously, because okay he didn’t have a ring for a guy he wasn’t even technically dating yet) just to see how Asahi reacted. He’d been thinking about trying it since their conversation the other day. Worst case, he could blame it on being drunk, which he totally was _not_ , but Asahi still obviously thought he _was_. He came out of his roll and planted his left foot, putting weight on it, when— “Fuck. Ow.”

“I’m not falling for it twice!” 

“No, um...” Nishinoya tested his foot and felt a twinge of pain at the ankle. “I mean, I’m fine—”

“What did you do?” Asahi hurried over to him.

“Nothing!” Nishinoya said hurriedly, trying his best to suppress a grimace as he stood. 

Asahi sighed heavily. “I just told— Nevermind. It doesn’t matter. What did you do?” He knelt down. “Sprained your ankle?”

“It was a hole, okay! How the hell was I supposed to know!” Nishinoya threw his hands up in exasperation. “C’mon, it’s no big deal. Let’s get back to the house—” He took a wobbly step.

“Here,” Asahi said, still crouched down. “You can’t walk on that. I’ll piggyback you.”

“What?” Nishinoya was conflicted as hell. As much as he relished the idea of being pressed flush against a significant expanse of Asahi, he hated the reason. He wasn’t _that_ hurt, and he wasn’t some fragile little girl or something. The last thing he wanted was to be some loser that had to be packed home because he’d been dicking around on the beach and stepped in a stupid hole. He wanted Asahi to see him as a fucking _love interest_ , not an accident-prone toddler.

So, of course he said, “I don’t want to,” with a childish pout.

“Noya—”

“I can walk home! I’m fine! I’m tough—not that I’m actually hurt—”

“Noya.” Asahi’s tone was so serious and soft that Nishinoya froze in his tracks. Not that he was moving particularly quickly at this point anyway. “Listen. I _know_ , fuck, more than anyone I know how tough you are. I watched you bruise and batter your body for years. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” He smiled a little at Noya’s now-hesitant pout. “And, yeah, I might have _just told you not to go hurting yourself_ ,” the smile flickered into a smirk, “but please. Do this for me. Because I don’t want you to hurt yourself worse. C’mon. It’s no big deal for me to piggyback you to the house, but it could make a big difference in how long it takes that ankle to heal up.” 

Nishinoya loved the juxtaposition that was Asahi. How it seemed like 99% of the time he was a stuttering, insecure scaredy-cat, but yet every now and then that 1% would come out and say something so cool and with such conviction that it felt all the more impactful and genuine because it was so rare. 

“Noya, please. Do this for me.” He looked up at Nishinoya, eyes pleading. “Let me take care of you.”

_Let me take care of you._

That was the KO. Noya’s head fell and he covered his face with this hands. 

“Noya? You okay?”

“You don’t play fair,” Nishinoya mumbled through his fingers before climbing onto Asahi’s back. He felt more than heard Asahi huff a laugh before effortlessly standing up, lifting him as if he weighed nothing.

Nishinoya wished he didn’t feel so conflicted so that he might better enjoy the feeling of his arms draped over those shoulders he’d worshipped since high school, falling across that chest he’d been dying to touch, the muscles of Asahi’s broad back shifting against his chest. 

“You okay back there?” Asahi asked after a moment, slightly adjusting his arms hooked under Nishinoya’s knees. 

“’M fine,” Nishinoya muttered, his lips brushing the back of Asahi’s neck. “Why, you tired of carrying me yet?”

“No,” Asahi laughed. “I’m more worried you’re gonna fall asleep and I have to worry about you falling off.”

“Not gonna fall asleep.” He petulantly kept his face pressed against Asahi’s neck, feeling the goosebumps rise on the skin against his lips whenever he talked. “Told you, I’m not drunk.”

“You don’t have to be drunk to be sleepy,” Asahi said gently.

“Well I’m not drunk _or_ sleepy. So there.”

“You’re awfully pouty for someone not drunk or sleepy,” Asahi pondered, the amusement clear in his voice.

“I’m not pouty either.”

“Must be my imagination.” 

“You can put me down if I’m too heavy.” He knew he wasn’t.

“You’re not too heavy,” Asahi laughed. “You’re...you’re actually way lighter than I expected.”

“Maybe you’re just stupidly strong.”

“Oh so now I’m stupidly strong and stupidly tall?” Asahi teased. “I’m just glad this _stupid_ body is good for something.”

“How can you even say that? Your body is fucking amazing!” 

Asahi made a slightly strangled sound. “Noya, can you please— your face is _right_ on my neck and every time you talk—”

“What, does this bother you?” Noya smiled, making sure his words were extra breathy against Asahi’s sensitive skin.

“Gah!” Asahi yelped. “It’s just— it really, uh, tickles! J-just, can you just move your face a little—”

Instead, Nishinoya burrowed his face as much as he could right behind Asahi’s ear. “Like this?” he asked wickedly.

He felt the shiver run through Asahi’s body and grinned in smug satisfaction. And if he happened to lick his lower lip and accidentally graze Asahi’s goosebumped, sensitive skin with his tongue, well...

“Fuck,” Asahi blurted. “Noya!” Asahi tried to glare but with Noya’s face tucked into his neck, it wasn’t very effective. “Fuck,” he repeated in a whisper.

“Y’know, Asahi.” Noya tried to sound chill, like he wasn’t half high from just an infinitesimal taste of Asahi on his tongue. “I don’t remember you cursing this much. You’ve been dropping the f-bomb a lot lately.”

“What can I say.” Asahi’s sigh was heavy yet shaky. “I guess you’re just a bad influence.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go. Thanks for reading :)


	7. Day 7 Prompt: Sharing a Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi looked down at Noya skeptically. “Are you sure about this?”
> 
> “C’mon, you were the one being all fussy just a minute ago about me being hurt. Are you really gonna leave me here, alone? What if I need something?” 
> 
> Asahi had to admit he kind of had a point. 
> 
> “What if I have to pee in the middle of the night? Who’s gonna piggyback me to the bathroom?”
> 
> Okay, now Noya was just fucking with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm publishing this a little early but hey, with time zones, it's already tomorrow somewhere.

Asahi looked down at him skeptically. “Are you sure about this?”

“C’mon, you were the one being all fussy just a minute ago about me being hurt. Are you really gonna leave me here, alone? What if I need something?” 

Asahi had to admit he kind of had a point. 

“What if I have to pee in the middle of the night? Who’s gonna piggyback me to the bathroom?”

Okay, now Noya was just fucking with him.

They had made it back to the house, Asahi resolved to keep better tabs on Nishinoya’s alcohol intake in the future because he didn’t know if he could survive that again. At first he thought maybe Nishinoya wasn’t really too inebriated but then...yeah. There was no way sober Noya would—his mind immediately flashed to the feeling of soft lips and hot breath and _was that his fucking tongue_ against his neck, just behind his ear—

Right. 

So once they got back to the house, as the _responsible one_ , Asahi set Nishinoya up in their rental’s single bed (Nishinoya had been crashing on the couch for the duration of their stay; maybe it wasn’t ideal, but because it only had one bed, the place was a freakin’ steal and they both agreed the location and cool deck were worth it). He grabbed extra pillows for under his ankle and a bag of ice for on top of it, and even a compression wrap, having packed it thinking he might have to use it on himself if he did something stupid or clumsy, never imagining it would be Nishinoya who injured himself doing some stupid stunt—

Anyway. He was thankful to his past self for being a pessimistic worrywart enough to pack it. Even if Nishinoya’s foot had been so distractingly, preciously small in his hand that it took Asahi a few tries to wrap it successfully.

“I knew you were just teasing, I can’t believe—” 

“I’m not!” Nishinoya reached out from where he sat on the bed and grabbed for Asahi’s hand, ending up just holding his pinky. “Okay, that last part about the bathroom was teasing but I’m serious about...just sleep here.” Asahi just about groaned indecently at the pleading look in Noya’s golden eyes. “You’re not gonna fit on the couch anyway.”

“Well, I don’t want you sleeping there! You’re hurt!”

Nishinoya opened his mouth and Asahi expected something like, “I’m not hurt; it’s a lousy fucking ankle” but instead Nishinoya surprised him by saying, “Exactly. So let’s _both_ sleep here.” At Asahi’s pained expression he tried for a lighter tone. “What, you afraid I’m gonna jump you or something?”

It was quite the opposite that Asahi was afraid of but now did not seem like a good time to bring that up— _no time_ was a good time to bring that up, as far as he was concerned. “No,” he said seriously. “What...what if I roll over and squish you?”

Noya burst out laughing. “That’s what you’re afraid of?” Asahi looked slightly offended and Nishinoya squeezed the pinky he still held in his hand. “You’re not gonna squish me. I promise.”

“You don’t know that! If I hurt you I would feel horrible! I’d just _die_ —”

“Hey!” Nishinoya snapped and Asahi startled a little. “You’re hurting me more by making such a big deal out of this.” 

“That— that doesn’t even make sense,” Asahi said, brows pinched. “B-but I guess if it’s that important to you—”

“It is!” Nishinoya said emphatically. 

“I’m thinking you’re still a little drunk...”

“Then you better stay in here and keep an eye on me!”

Asahi gave in with a snort; he should’ve known he was no match for Noya’s tenacity, drunk or not. “Fine,” he said, trying not to smile, which was impossible once he saw how Nishinoya’s face lit up. “Scoot over and get that foot elevated and iced. I’m going to, uh, brush my teeth then I’ll be back.”

Asahi started the night on the very edge of the bed, still afraid of accidentally rolling over and squishing Noya, even if Nishinoya himself scoffed at the idea. Nishinoya had _also_ scoffed at the idea of hurting himself dorking around on the beach at night and well, look what had happened.

For a long while, Asahi couldn’t sleep. He tried listening to Noya’s rhythmic breathing on the other side of the bed, focusing on that to calm him and lull him to sleep. But that just made it worse, made him even more awake, more aware, because tuning into that soft breathing immediately reignited the feeling of that same breath on his skin, the tiny hairs on his neck standing up, but closely following the thrill that coursed through him was—

The confusion.

Okay, sure, Nishinoya had never held back with shoulder bumps and smacks to the back or pokes and chops to his sides. How many times had he practically done handstands on Hinata’s or Tanaka’s shoulders? Excitedly jumped into a teammate’s arms after a crucial play?

And despite the crush Asahi had been trying to suppress for years, when Asahi had offered to carry Noya back to the rental, it had been a purely platonic offer. He hadn’t thought _at all_ about Nishinoya’s arms twined around his neck or his legs wrapped around his torso or the feeling of that small chest pressed against his back or—

Well, maybe he had thought about it. For a second. But still, Nishinoya had legitimately hurt himself and _legitimately_ needed to stay off that ankle as much as possible. Ridiculous long-standing one-sided crush or not, Asahi was happy he could help. 

But then he’d quickly realized that Noya must be way more intoxicated than he’d let on. The short walk home had been absolute hell, all thanks to the tiny devil on his back. 

So Asahi curled on his side facing away from Nishinoya, on the edge of the bed, wide awake, thoughts churning and scenes mentally replaying as he desperately tried to untangle and decipher what had happened.

Bumps, smacks, pokes, and chops were normal guy stuff. Especially in athletics, right? Even the impulsive hug got a pass. Piggyback ride, that was just guys goofing off or helping each other out. He’d seen a lot of straight guys do all these things. No biggie, nothing “weird” about it. Just normal, everyday, totally acceptable guy stuff.

Heck, he might even give the breath and lips grazing his skin a pass. It seemed kinda iffy, but Noya would do anything for a laugh and was generally pretty shameless; Asahi could see Noya thinking it would be funny. Factor in some drunkenness, yeah, it probably seemed hilarious to him in the moment. That must be it. He was just messing around like always. Hell, how many times in the past weeks had Nishinoya said it himself? “I’m just messing with you.” “Just fucking with you.”

Asahi took a deep breath. Yeah, that had to be it. There was no hidden meaning to it—no matter how much he hoped for one. It was just Nishinoya messing with him. 

But then what about— about that almost imperceptible flick of tongue? Asahi could make an exception for all the other stuff, but l-licking..?

Maybe Nishinoya just hadn’t been paying attention. Went to moisten his lip and happened to forget his lip was pressed against the skin of Asahi’s neck.

That...made sense. Yeah. That had to be it. Hell, Asahi was making a huge deal out of nothing. Nishinoya probably wouldn’t remember it in the morning. Probably didn’t even give it a second thought a moment after he did it. 

Right?

As if being plagued by dreams of a tiny devil with a wicked tongue and impish grin wasn’t enough, Asahi woke to an existential crisis.

He didn’t remember when he finally fell asleep, but he knew he had been on the edge of the bed, mustering as much of a gap as possible between him and Nishinoya sleeping on the other side.

So why was there something warm snuggled between his shoulder blades, a thin arm dangling across his chest, a leg thrown over his waist, and the feeling of a tiny face pressed against the base of his neck?

For a moment Asahi could do nothing but lay there and try to cope with the realization that he was very much absolutely spooning with Nishinoya.

And Noya was the big spoon.

Was this on purpose? Was it by accident? Was it romantic? Was he just a giant body pillow? Or was he actually just a mother koala with her baby clinging to her back?

Honestly, Asahi didn’t know anymore.

But one thing he did know, as he registered the amount of sunlight filtering through the blinds, was that Nishinoya was notoriously an early riser. In all their time together, not _once_ had Asahi woken up first. And that sent Asahi into an immediate, paralyzing panic because that would mean it was extremely likely that Nishinoya was already awake.

“Your heart feels like it’s going to pound out of your chest, Asahi-san.”

“Uwahh!” Asahi jerked. “Noya!” He tried catching the breath that had been scared out of him. That at least answered the question of whether or not Nishinoya was awake. “You startled me. Of course my heart’s pounding.”

“It was pounding before I startled you.”

“Well, yeah! From the moment I woke up, I was startled!” Asahi tried turning his head but of course couldn’t see anything with Noya wedged against his back. “What—” His voice cracked so he swallowed and tried again. “What are you doing?”

“Oh,” Nishinoya said, sounding for all the world like he somehow just realized their awkwardly intimate position. “You’re really comfortable, Asahi-sa— Asahi. And besides,” he bounced the foot draped so casually over Asahi’s hips. “You told me to keep my ankle elevated.”

“Right,” Asahi said, trying to process. “So your best idea was to use me for that?”

The bouncing foot stilled. “Is...that not okay? Is that a problem?”

“Well...” Asahi said slowly, looking at the little leg dangling over him. “The problem is, Noya...that’s not even the right foot.”

There was a moment of silence. “Huh.” The uninjured foot gave another tentative bounce. “You’re right.” Nishinoya laughed against Asahi’s back.

It was as if the sheer absurdity of it all and Nishinoya’s laughter evaporated the awkwardness in the room. Asahi shook his head and extricated himself from Nishinoya’s limbs. “Let me, uh, pee and get coffee started and then I’ll check your ankle—”

“It’s fine!”

“Yeah, that’s what you said last night too,” Asahi replied skeptically. He stood and stretched, catching Noya’s lingering glance at his belly when his stretch lifted the shirt and exposed the skin there. Hurriedly he lowered his arms, feeling self-conscious. He knew that Nishinoya was all taut, toned muscle whereas he... Well, before he’d left, Daichi and Suga had teased him that he was getting a little chubby, maybe he should—

“No, seriously—” Nishinoya derailed his train of thought about potentially going on a diet. “—like, it’s probably not even really bruised.” He hopped up, ignoring Asahi’s squawk of protest. “See!”

“Noya.” Asahi covered his face in exasperation. 

“You go pee, I’ll make coffee.” Nishinoya patted him on the back before bounding out of the bedroom. 

Nishinoya had undergone a decent amount of inner debate at approximately three forty-two that morning. On one hand, Asahi was very obviously asleep, judging by the light snores, and he shouldn’t take advantage of his cutely vulnerable, very-much-asleep friend. Buuuut on the _other_ hand, Asahi was literally _right there_ and it was just some cuddling and if Asahi acted like he hated it or was disgusted, he would just promise to never, ever, ever even think about doing it again.

And could he call himself a man if he didn’t even _try_ to show him how he felt?

Thus resolved, Nishinoya had stealthily slid across the sheets, closing the relatively small gap between them. Carefully he settled against that broad back, not pressing too closely at first just in case for once Asahi was a light sleeper. For a moment Nishinoya waited, heart in his throat, listening for a hitch in those soft snores that would tip him off that he’d been busted. When nothing happened, he eased an arm around, testing, waiting. 

Relieved, Nishinoya tightened the arm around Asahi’s chest just a little and burrowed his face against Asahi’s back, at the base of his neck. And if he happened to leave just one little kiss there, well. Nobody needed to know.

Except that’s when the snores stopped and Nishinoya froze for just a moment.

“Noyaaa...” Asahi mumbled, followed by the heavy breaths of sleep.

Noya squeezed his eyes shut, resisting the urge to scream and crush Asahi in a hug. That had to mean _something_. It had to. 

Snuggling back into Asahi’s warmth, Nishinoya kept replaying Asahi’s whisper in his head, building up the conviction in his heart. _That had to mean something. In the morning...I’ll...I’ll ask._

Which is how he ended up standing at the small kitchen counter, coffee bubbling, wondering how the fuck he was exactly going to do that.

Asahi shuffled into the kitchen to retrieve his coffee while Nishinoya waited on the couch for Asahi’s insisted-upon ankle inspection.

It wasn’t until Asahi lifted his mug that he noticed the small square of paper towel that had been anchored underneath, covered in Nishinoya’s scribbly handwriting.

_Do you like me?_  
_(circle one)_  
_YES -or- YES_

For a long moment, Asahi just stared, secretly proud of himself for not dropping his coffee and breaking the mug as the weight of everything hit him all at once. He’d replayed the previous night’s events (and added this morning’s spooning incident) on a nonstop mental reel, hoping that if he just kept replaying and analyzing he could crack it and figure it out and now—

Just like that, this tiny piece of paper (towel) blew it all wide open and everything settled into its perfect place. Everything made sense.

  
Nishinoya thought he might die of anticipation waiting for Asahi’s reaction. He hadn’t heard any “uwahh” or the sound of a coffee mug hitting the floor, so he hoped that was a good sign? Finally, sipping his coffee, Asahi joined Noya in the living room where he fidgeted on the couch. He set the mug on the end table before sinking cross-legged to the floor in front of Nishinoya, gently pulling his injured foot into his lap. Nishinoya stayed quiet, breath caught in his throat, golden eyes large and focused as Asahi cradled his foot in one hand and removed the compression wrap with the other.

Asahi was being so...so... _normal_. He wasn’t blushing or flustered or— did he not even see the note Nishinoya had left under his mug? Was that even possible? That would be too comical for words, Nishinoya panicking as he waited for an answer to question that Asahi didn’t even see—

Or maybe...

Nishinoya’s heart dropped. 

Maybe he was composing himself for his let-down speech.

“Probably not even bruised, huh?” Asahi rumbled, raising an eyebrow at Nishinoya.

Nishinoya shrugged, giving a lopsided grin. “Hey, it didn’t feel bruised—”

“Mm hmm.” Asahi rolled his eyes, lightly brushing the blueish-purple skin with his thumb. “That hurt?”

Nishinoya shook his head. “No. Kinda tickles, actually.” He watched, transfixed, as Asahi continued to very lightly massage his foot, trailing calloused fingertips to encourage the swelling to dispel. 

“Still okay?” Asahi asked.

At first Nishinoya nodded but realized Asahi was focused on his foot, not looking at him. “Yeah,” he said, voice a little breathier than he intended. 

Chocolate eyes flickered up, their gazes locking for a second before Asahi bent his head back down. Then, as if it were perfectly routine and not happening in slow-motion in Nishinoya’s brain, Asahi raised Nishinoya’s foot and pressed a soft kiss to the slender ankle.

“There,” Asahi said, voice only slightly shaky as he set Nishinoya’s foot on the floor before looking back up at him. “Kissed it better.”

All Nishinoya could do was gape. He just blinked, incredulous, completely at a loss for words. Finally he blurted, “Asahi! That was my _foot_!” Mentally he kicked himself; of all the things to say, _that_ is what his brain came up with?

“So? I love your foot.” Asahi took a breath but didn’t look away. “I love all of you.”

Nishinoya didn’t remember launching himself off the couch into Asahi’s arms, if he’d landed in his lap or if Asahi had pulled him in. But he didn’t care. Golden eyes wet, an uncontrollable grin on his face, he grabbed Asahi’s face with his hands. “That was so fucking smooth and cool!”

“Really?” Asahi asked, eyes full of worried hope. “Thank goodness.” He slumped with a sigh of relief.

“Okay, that reaction kinda ruined the coolness.” Nishinoya snickered. Distress flooded Asahi’s face still gripped between Nishinoya’s hands. He gently knocked their foreheads together, smirking as he said, “I’m just messing with you.”

“Noyaaa—”

Nishinoya covered Asahi’s mouth with his, kissing that last syllable of his name into silence. Asahi’s surprise lasted for the briefest moment before he was kissing him back, arms winding around him, large hands pressing them closer. It was a kiss flavored with coffee and cream, years of memories and misunderstandings, wishes and want and Nishinoya had never tasted anything more delicious.

The next morning, after firing off a pic to Tanaka (time zones be damned) of him flashing the peace sign while kissing the stubbly cheek of a still-sleeping Asahi, Nishinoya headed to the kitchen. His clean mug was already set out next to the coffeepot and he could see a tiny corner of paper (much more sophisticated than a torn piece of paper towel) sticking out from underneath. He started to slide it out and smiled at the perfect handwriting; they’d only been boyfriends for a day—Nishinoya couldn’t control his goofy grin at the word _boyfriends_ —but of course Asahi would be the type to leave love notes. Though he was already over the moon just seeing the little note and the beautiful writing, Nishinoya thought he should probably actually _read_ what the note said—

_Will you marry me?_  
_(circle one)_  
_YES -or- YES_

  
“Asahiiii!!!” was the very brief warning before Nishinoya overly enthusiastically but very lovingly bodyslammed a sleeping Asahi on the mattress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This was my first time participating in something like this so I really hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I really debated the end of this but I figure Asahi would be the type to get caught up in the moment (and probably stress about it later) with his proposal. I do like to think that once rings are actually purchased down the road, Noya does pull off his Rolling Thunder Proposal, much to Asahi's simultaneous embarrassment and delight.
> 
> Also, stupid note: in the first draft, Noya sprained his right ankle. But then I remembered Nishinoya's stupid foot-receive from the Guarding Your Back episode and decided to switch it to the left.


End file.
